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Plant Ideas

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Heyy guys I was wondering if any of you could recommend some good plants for me. I'm looking for a plant that will give me a sort of grass lawn like affect. Something that I can trim if it gets too tall and won't have to worry about the leaves dying. Tank is a 20 gallon with sand for substrate, no CO2, dose Flourise weekly, currently I only have a 60w CFL bulb on the tank but I'll soon be doubling it so plants that do well in medium light would be appreciated.

Also, instead of making another thread I'll just ask here, can someone give me advice on Vallisneria spiralis? Mine are doing okay and shoot out new runners often. Lately older leaves are starting to turn yellow. Overall the plant is a light green compared to the color they're supposed to have. Also they don't seem to be growing very tall. Some leaves have reached the surface but a majority seem to stop growing at about 4-5 inches. I have 1 Life-Glo 15watt T8 bulb on the tank, I dose Flourish weekly, parameters are 0 ammonia/0 nitrites/ and about 20 nitrates. I keep the lights on for 9 hours a day. My water is fairly soft as I have Catappa leaves in the tank. The pH is around 6.6-6.8. Also the temperature is around 76 degrees.

What should I do? I have root tabs, Flourish Trace, and Flourish Iron. Is there anything I should add?? Please help me out!!

Sounds like a possible shortage of trace elements, magnesium in particular. Pic would help. How often do you feed trace?

As to your first question, dense carpeting without co2 is almost impossible. You can try the usual suspects like glosso or hairgrass of course but personally I think riccia tied stones would be your best bet.

Yes is a 60 watt CFL. However, as I said, I plan to double or triple the lighting. I think for my 20 gallon I'm going to go with sag or an equivalent plant. They don't carpet but if grown together tightly they look like ornamental grass used in landscaping and I like that affect.

and @talldutchie I don't dose trace. I never had issues till now. Should I start dosing trace? Here are the best photos I could get:WP_001360.jpg

As talldutchie said, "carpet" type plants tend to be high-tech system plants, requiring higher light and thus more nutrients to balance, and CO2 isusually necessary. Though some aquarists have managed to grow some of these plants without, but generally they do not fare well in low-tech systems. I don't even try them, I have pygmy chain sword and chain sword for my substrate plants, and crypts in another tank, though these are not "carpet" plants per say.

To the Vallisneria. More data on your system will help. I suspect calcium and magnesium are lacking, but before you start dumping this and that into the tank, let's sort things out. I dosed magnesium a couple years back, and nearly killed my swords because it caused the plants to shut down assimilation of iron. This is the problem with ad hoc dosing of this and that, the plants can react differently.

Vallisneria is a hard water plant; it grows naturally in places like the rift lakes in East Africa, and that is about the hardest water for freshwater fish on the planet. I have poor luck with Vallisneria simply because of my soft water. Light is also important.

What is your GH? You mention an acidic pH and that is also not too good though in the high 6's should manage, but only if the GH is moderate or higher.

Also, what fertilizers are you using now? You mention tabs, Flourish Trace and Flourish Iron, but there are several nutrients missing from these. Are you using Flourish Comprehensive? And what is the tank size--the 15w T8 tube presumably is 18 inches in length?

Byron.

Byron Hosking, BMus, MA
Vancouver, BC, Canada

Something we all need to remember: The fish you've acquired was quite happy not being owned by you, minding its own business. If you’re going to take it under your wing then you’re responsible for it. Every aspect of its life is under your control, from water quality and temperature to swimming space. [Nathan Hill in PFK]

Yes its 18 inches in length. The tank is a 10 gallon tank. I'm dosing Flourish Comprehensive. I DON'T dose Flourish Trace or Iron, I was asking if I needed to. Most of the root tabs in the tank have been in there since march or april so they probably need to be replaced by now. I don't know the gH of the tank. I'll have to test that in a few hours when I do my water change. However I am most likely going to remove the Catappa leaves from my tank, that'll bring the pH back up to match my tap water at about 7.6. I added the leaves to stimulate breeding of my apistos and my pencilfish however both species have lately not shown any breeding activity.

Yes its 18 inches in length. The tank is a 10 gallon tank. I'm dosing Flourish Comprehensive. I DON'T dose Flourish Trace or Iron, I was asking if I needed to. Most of the root tabs in the tank have been in there since march or april so they probably need to be replaced by now. I don't know the gH of the tank. I'll have to test that in a few hours when I do my water change. However I am most likely going to remove the Catappa leaves from my tank, that'll bring the pH back up to match my tap water at about 7.6. I added the leaves to stimulate breeding of my apistos and my pencilfish however both species have lately not shown any breeding activity.

When I have the GH I will be able to offer more, as this is frankly the issue. Interesting numbers here, but I won't speculate. Better to have the GH number, and KH if you can. BTW, these you can probably ascertain from the water supply folks. It's the tap water we need to know.

The GH may have something to do with the spawning failure too. I assume the photos above are the 10g. I was confused, because initially there was mention of a CFL bulb, so I had assumed two different tanks.

Byron.

Byron Hosking, BMus, MA
Vancouver, BC, Canada

Something we all need to remember: The fish you've acquired was quite happy not being owned by you, minding its own business. If you’re going to take it under your wing then you’re responsible for it. Every aspect of its life is under your control, from water quality and temperature to swimming space. [Nathan Hill in PFK]